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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. court — of law
  6. bark — to shout
  7. court — of a king
  8. pit — in a race
  9. court — for sport
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. shower — rain
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. shower — to wash
  18. chest — a box
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. snap — to click
  21. rash — a series
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. chest — of your body
  24. shower — a meteor shower

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com